Woman arrested at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort had $8,000 and a hidden camera detector in her hotel room
The USB stick the arrested woman was carrying with her immediately started installing files when investigators plugged it into a PC
The woman arrested last week for illegally entering President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida had even more electronic tools in her hotel room, including a device for detecting hidden cameras, a prosecutor told a federal court in West Palm Beach on Monday.
Prosecutor Rolando Garcia added that investigators recovered more than $8,000 in cash from the woman's hotel room.
The woman, Yujing Zhang, was arrested on 30th March after she gave conflicting accounts of the purpose of her visit to Mar-a-Lago, a resort in Florida owned by President Trump.
When agents inserted the USB stick into a computer, it immediately started installing files
She was found to be carrying two Chinese passports, four cellphones, one laptop, an external hard drive, and a USB stick. An initial analysis of the USB stick revealed that it contained malware.
When agents inserted the USB stick into a computer, it immediately started installing files. The drive was immediately removed to prevent further corruption of the PC. Ivanovich said the analysis was still under way but inconclusive at the moment.
Garcia said that agents recovered $7,500 in US dollars and $663 in Chinese renminbi from Zhang's hotel room. In addition, they also found five SIM cards, nine USB drives, and several other electronic items from Zhang's room.
According to the Miami Herald, the purpose of Monday's hearing was to determine if Zhang should be released on bail.
During the hearing, Zhang's attorney Robert Adler claimed that Zhang was not a spy and didn't "have the type of devices that can be associated with espionage activities".
Investigators are still trying to determine how much of a threat the malware that Zhang brought into the resort posed, and whether it was intended to be used to infect an existing network or to collect information at the resort.
They found five SIM cards, nine USB drives, and several other electronic items from Zhang's room
Zhang had been arrested last week as her conflicting statements had raised suspicions among federal agents, who were already investigating possible intelligence operations by Chinese agents in Florida.
Federal officers arrested Zhang and charged her with lying to a federal agent and illegally accessing a restricted property.
Zhang had told a security service agent that she was a member of the club and was there to use the pool in order to gain initial entry.
When she was allowed entry into the club by a manager (thinking she was the daughter of another member of the club), Zhang told a front-desk receptionist that she had come to attend a "United Nations Chinese-American Association" event.
There was no such event scheduled for the day.
The receptionist became suspicious and called federal agents, who took Zhang in for questioning.
There, Zhang told federal agents that she had travelled from Shanghai on the invitation of a person named "Charles", whom she became acquainted with via WeChat, a popular Chinese social media app.
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